Fresh Water Shrimp Growing Algea?

[Lucky.13]

I have two fresh water shrimp, and the bigger of the two seems to be growing algea, while the other is completely clean. the bigger one also doesn't seem to be shedding it's shell, while the smaller one did like this week, could that be why he it isn't clean? Should I medicate the tank or something or just wait it out for a shedding?

Thank you for any responces in advance.

 

[GoldLenny]

Don't medicate the tank. Never add medications until you are certain of what you are treating. I've seen too many people throw various meds or chemicals into their tanks without even knowing what they are treating.

Now... what kind of shrimp do you have? There are hundreds, if not thousands of species of FW shrimp. The most common seem to be Amano, Ghost and Cherry shrimp. How long is the biggest one? How long have you had them?

 

[Invader Xan]

Growing algae? Like green algae?

It sounds worryingly like an infection of some kind. If it's not green but white and fuzzy looking, then possibly a fungal infection. Hopefully, if should sort itself out when he moults (rather a benefit of regularly shedding your skin). If he's larger, he'll moult less frequently...

And chance you could describe it in more detail?

 

[Lucky.13]

No, it's none of the shrimp you mentioned, GoldLenny. I had the name at one point, but forgot it, so I'll looking it up again. They're mostly orange, with a white stripe on their back, with black stipes on either side of the white.

I've only had them like 3 months(middle of May), but it was an already set up tank, so they were just transported. They're already full grown, it seems, except the one that's NOT growing algea, was a lot smaller and has grown, but the big one is just... big. lol

The algea is actually algea. There's two types of algea in our tank. The one that grows on the walls, a flat, rust-color type, and the one that grows on the plants(and the shrimp) that is a deep green, and it IS furry, but more like hair, than fuzz.

Thanks for the answers

 

[GoldLenny]

Bamboo shrimp??

I've seen algae growing on my mystery snail shells so I guess it could grow on a shrimp shell also. The larger the shrimp, the less likely to molt compared to smaller shrimp. They only molt because their shells do not actually grow so as the shrimp is growing, it needs to discard the old shell.

 

[Lucky.13]

Yes! Bamboo shrimp. That's it.

Ok, thank you for all the help.